Super Rich: Starting the game by going back ten years to buy Bitcoin

"At the current rate of efficiency, it will take twenty-five days."

Twenty-five days.

The number swirled in his ears, and Li Yichen opened his eyes and sat up.

He doesn't need to worry about the moon—Ling'er is keeping an eye on things, the Terminator is digging, and everything is running on track.

He still has one problem to solve.

The main skeleton of the Titan was erected three days ago. It is five meters high, weighs three tons, and carries a heavy pulse cannon on each shoulder. Twenty-four-cell missile pods are embedded in the shoulder armor, and the charging pipeline for the tactical laser main cannon on the spine has also been completed.

But the basketball-sized cavity in his chest remained empty.

"Ling'er, what are the results of the second shrinking test?"

Ling'er peeked out from her watch, looking embarrassed. "It's still not working. The coil isn't wound dense enough for this size, and the steady-state output is only a little over 60% of the design value."

"Six out of ten will not be able to support it."

"Yes, the pulse cannon is consuming energy for both charging and flight propulsion, so neither can be fully utilized."

Li Yichen kicked off the blanket, stood up, walked to the worktable, and stared at the failed product for a while.

"Change your approach. Compress the cross-sectional area and increase the number of layers—density depends on layering, not cross-sectional area."

Ling'er frowned. "The welding precision requirements would be ridiculously high."

"Then let's weld it outrageously."

The third two nights were the slowest two nights I've ever welded in my life.

The superconducting tape was as thin as a hair under a magnifying glass. The welding torch was turned down to its lowest power, and each joint was made by feel; even the slightest deviation meant starting over. At four in the morning, the arc light flickered three times and went out. He took out the last set of coils and put them into the liquid nitrogen bath to cool them down.

During the five minutes of waiting, the experimental area was so quiet that only the buzzing sound of the air conditioner vents could be heard.

Ling'er didn't say anything.

The slot cover popped open. The data panel refreshed.

Steady-state output—1100 megawatts. Exceeding design specifications.

"You passed." Ling'er's voice came first, tinged with obvious lingering fear. "Brother, you passed."

Li Yichen put down the measuring tool in his hand, stretched his right hand fingers that had been clenched for too long, and said nothing.

There was a slight curve at the corner of her mouth.

A basketball-sized, silver-white sphere was embedded into the hollow of the Titan's chest cavity. It was filled with shock-absorbing gel, covered with a three-centimeter-thick tungsten steel protective shield, and finally the chest armor closed from both sides with a dull snapping sound.

A beam of blue light shone through the gap in the center of the breastplate.

A flash.

Another flash.

The rhythm was steady and deep, like a heartbeat.

"That blue light..." Ling'er squatted on the equipment rack with her legs dangling in the air, muttering softly, "Why does it feel a little too cool?"

"Shut up, this is the final check."

At 3:00 AM on the sixth day of the first lunar month, the last bolt was tightened.

Li Yichen took five steps back and looked up at the thing on the supporting tower.

The deep space black paint absorbed most of the light, while the dark gold ridges shone through the cool white light tubes, outlining the entire body with distinct lines. It was over three meters wide at the shoulders, and its arms could almost touch its kneecaps when hanging down. Standing on the ground and looking up from below, one had to crane their neck to the limit to see the top of its head.

Standing in front of it, a person really is just an ant.

"Ling'er".

"exist."

"Take over Titan, Mode 1, Basic Action Test".

Ling'er's consciousness extended outward from the watch and connected to Titan's core control terminal.

Click.

A blue light flashed in the breastplate, the hydraulic system activated section by section, the kneeplate, waistplate, and shoulderplates took turns bearing the weight, each engagement producing a low hum, and finally the neckplate locked in place—it stood upright.

The foundation of the entire laboratory building shook, and the overhead light tubes swayed twice.

"Raise your left arm."

Titan's left arm slowly rose, the hydraulic cylinders emitting a beast-like growl at the joints, and five metal knuckles spread out, filling the field of vision. The oppressive feeling didn't need to be consciously felt; one could already feel it just by standing there.

"make a fist."

The sound of five fingers squeezing air swirled in the enclosed space, and the steel plate in the corner of the testing area clanged loudly, causing the dust cover to scramble half a meter to the side.

"Force feedback is normal, delay is within three milliseconds, and joint range of motion meets the standard," Ling'er reported, her tone suppressing excitement. "Mode one works."

"Switch to Mode Two".

Li Yichen walked towards the Heavenly Soldier Armor, pressed his wristwatch lightly, and the donning program started. The armor plates snapped together in sequence, the helmet flipped up from the back of his neck and locked in place, and the HUD lit up.

He walked toward Titan's back.

The triangular armor plates flipped outwards, revealing a control cabin just big enough for an adult. He stepped inside, placed his feet on the fixed pedals, reached his hands into the control arm sleeves, and pressed his back against the neural interface.

Triggered by coupling signal.

An electric current spread from the spine to the extremities.

The cockpit closed, blocking out external sounds and changing the field of vision.

He looked out from the Titan's "eye".

The entire laboratory building has been shrunk.

The equipment racks that he usually had to look up at were now only waist-high. Three industrial machine tools lay at his feet, like three silent iron bricks. He looked down and saw his "hands"—each finger thicker than his lumbar vertebrae, still and waiting for instructions.

He moved his index finger.

Titan's index finger bent.

The latency is so low it's practically nonexistent.

"Ling'er, power output, 10%."

He lifted his right foot and took a step forward.

The sole of the boot hit the ground.

The entire building trembled again, this time more noticeably than in mode one; even the ceiling lights were shaking. A cracked dent was pressed into the floor beneath my feet.

Li Yichen looked down at the pit from a height of five meters and remained silent for two seconds.

"Ling'er, it's only ten percent?"

"Yes, ten percent." Ling'er jumped out from the corner of the HUD, the little figure riding on "his" shoulder armor, her legs dangling in the air, her voice low but unable to conceal her strength, "Brother, at full power, theoretically it could take down a main battle tank—"

"Alright."

"—Smash it with one punch."

He slowly clenched his right fist, and the pulse cannon's charging system began to preheat. The power reading on the HUD climbed up, and the test target in the corner of the experimental area was swept by the blast wave, bounced half a meter off the ground, and hit the steel frame with two clangs.

He didn't fire. This place is inescapable.

"After the minerals are brought back from the moon, the vibranium shell and energy shield will be deployed together," he said.

"Once it's fully equipped, it'll be an absolute strategic-level single unit," Ling'er said. "Bullets and missiles will all be launched, and the endurance will be unlimited. Brother, if you get attacked in the future, first determine the opponent's level. Is it enough to let you out of Titan-01? If not, don't bother. You can just sit inside and drink water."

"...What you're saying is making more and more sense."

The return procedure was initiated, the cockpit popped open, and the soles of the Heavenly Soldier Armor fell back to the ground.

Behind him, Titan switched back to standby mode under Ling'er's control, its joints locking one by one until it came to a standby state.

Li Yichen took off his helmet and looked up at it.

"serial number."

"Titan-01, loading. Dude, it's 4:30 now."

"Um."

"Uncle Zhou will be back at eight o'clock today."

"understood."

He dusted the metallic powder off his hands and headed for the exit. One by one, the motion-sensor lights in the corridor turned on and off. Once outside, he sat in the Yangwang U8. The streets of Pudong were deserted in the early morning; only a few pieces of firework debris were being tossed about by the wind under the streetlights.

The phone screen lit up briefly.

His mother sent him a message: "Son, what do you want for breakfast tomorrow?"

Li Yichen typed one word: "porridge".

After sending the message, I put down my phone, started the engine, and the car silently glided out of the laboratory building's dedicated passageway.

In the rearview mirror, the lights of the gray building dimmed layer by layer.

But he knew that the blue light deep underground was still flickering.

Just once. Just once.

Waiting for the day I'm awakened.